My avatar, Mr NOXx is an extension of my psyche, but for some unknown reason my avatar represents the nemesis of my real personality. This is an interesting phenomenon and one which I have searched my own soul to try and explain.
One can argue that the avatar allows us to live a life opposite to ones reality to create balance in ones life. My real career has always been one of helping others selflessly but online within EvE I enjoy ruining my fellow POD pilots life by depriving them of everything. Before EvE Online I can't recall or did not feel a need to do this so there must be something about EvE Online, or indeed any MMORPG which encourages this behaviour to surface.
My original character I played for six months. He was very similar to what I thought was my actual personality. His features were modelled on me as much as possible and his career followed what I asumed I would’ve done had I been born within New Eden. After a few months of play I became restless with my role in EvE. The termination of said character was executed without remorse or reproach. In fact I was rather looking forward to it.
Mr NOXx was born overnight and appeared to represent everything opposite my real personality. Three years later we are still together and enjoying our time together immensely.
Perhaps the nature of an RPG is at the crux of the effect goading us to become something opposite, even negative. Escapism is key here and although games such as Halo allow us to live out the fantasy of an elite cyborg; saviour of earth, these avatars are already packaged, stamped and have their roles mapped out according to the designers whim. Only in an RPG like EvE Online can one truly live any life, and one which has no rules or definitive ending.
Perhaps ones own subconscious plays a role as this is, as popular belief has it, opposite to our consciousness. Now I have never dreamed of murdering PODs or ganking cruisers but this is what I do best, and what I feel compelled to do. Perhaps I did dream of it, but being so deep in REM the conscious mind has no ability to remember. To be honest if this were the case I would be a little disturbed at this knowledge.
There’s another explanation; I get great pleasure from helping my fellow human being and the rewards are a feeling of achievement and well being, of making a real difference.
I also get great pleasure from murdering my fellow POD pilot. The feeling I get is almost identical just more so. My first kill was such a rush that I was literally shaking from head to toe. An adrenalin addiction is a likely cause because every time I kill the feeling is less pronounced, just like an addiction.
Whatever the reasons I find it fascinating that avatars become extensions of our psyches' nemesis and that playing a MMORPG seems to promote this effect. Perhaps they should have mental health warnings?
"I Was A Schizophrenic, But We're Alright Now"
The Old Hermit
Ambulation and the meandering it enables may breed a new type of EvE player. With all the entertainment consoles, bars, shops and all else it’s quite possible that there will be players who become so attached to their limbs (beyond the physical) that they’ll rarely venture further than the ship hanger and gaze at the business outside. A new phobia may be needed to shoehorn such occupants to rationalise their choice to remain inside the embrace of the station walls.
The slang will come, and I’m sure it will evolve quickly based on a single comment, delivered with sincerity and dispersed around the entire community. Perhaps there will be different descriptive words dependant on the type of station inhabited. Clank, Tin Can Man or a Dweller come to mind, or maybe just a plain old Hermit.
There is a name for everything, Pirates and Care-bears, Industrialists and Ratters, whatever the slang it will become second nature and we’ll all know who they are, what they do and to some degree, why they do it. This isn’t to say that ones play style is rigid, once upon a time even I was a Ratter and a Mission Runner but the smell of blood was too much to ignore and so I sought out combat deep in null sec.
There are many weird and wonderful characters out there in the cosmos, I should know I am one, we all are. In fact we represent a population that is incredibly diverse. If we look deeper into the community we can find players that have their own niche and stick to it. With the addition of Dust 514 this community will become even more varied and widespread. EvE players that don’t own a single space craft? What a strange notion.
Whatever your pleasure, EvE Online is here to indulge your senses and we can all find contentment in our chosen profession. Having tinkered with most aspects of life in New Eden, Piracy is the most fun for me but some of you are so weird you consider mining enjoyable. What a strange bunch we are.
Messages (Bjorn Lynne & Tobias Richter)
This video is a bit of a nostalgia trip for me as I was a huge fan of Tobias' animation work when I was a wee lad. The music by Bjorn Lynne is also very eighties, early nineties it reminds me of how fantastical our perception of spaceships were in those days. How the future was enveloped in artificial light and the heavens were full of huge, slow moving cities of glass and steel.
After playing EvE Online I now realise that the future is actually bleak. That it is dark, cold and full of insurmountable suffering and pain.
Related Links
LynneMusic.com
TheLightWorks.com
Terra Firma
EvE Online is a beautiful game. Picking through screenshots I am amazed at how subtle the lighting effects have become, the glare, the shadows, even the way the metal hulls reflect on our beloved ships. Stations and stargates are also incredibly detailed and are a marvel to look at. But there is one problem with the recent graphics enhancements. They have neglected to improve the most massive of objects in the game world - the planets.
Before the Trinity upgrade, ships, stations, star gates and planets had the same graphical resolution. Since Trinity almost everything has seen steady improvement, but with every upgrade the planetary bodies look even more out of place against crisply detailed heavenly objects.
Dominion, the next release from CCP due this winter is to address this issue by introducing remapped planetary surfaces complete with clouds, oceans, mountains and atmospheres. It will be a welcome addition and will help solidify the game world into consistency. It would also be nice to see some variation beyond a standard 8 models, so certain planets can be identified from appearance alone.
The upgrade is sure to make EvE Online the best looking MMORPG on the market today. I'm getting my camera drones ready as we speak. If you can't wait until the next expansion you can observe some work-in-progress on Singularity.
Related Links
Dominion (expansion)
Test Server (singularity installation guide)
Test Server (singularity patches)
Dust 514 - First Look
Dust 514 is an online First Person Shooter from CCP built within the EvE Online universe. So far Hilmar Veigar Petursson (CCP CEO) has confirmed during a press release that the game will be a console exclusive but will link with the PC version of our beloved game. How this will be achieved has not yet been made clear but there are talks of the planets in EvE Online (PC) will be somehow fought over in the new game. Details are still sketchy but more is promised at fan-fest in October this year.
Personally I think this is a very shrewed move by CCP to secure more revenue and expand the EvE universe beyond the PC market. EvE Online has some of the richest design and back story elements of any modern game and it would be great to share it with more players whom, until now have not been encouraged to play EvE. The game has already been in development for 3 years so one can assume that a release can't be too far away. I certainly will be awaiting with deep anticipation...
Related Links
Press Release
Pop Goes The Weasel
Security: 0.3
Mission: Command Ship Tour
Our only encounter was a trap sprung. A Rifter was located ratting within a belt in 0.3 security space. When attacked by B13, two Minmater Battle cruisers de-cloaked 20 km from B13s' position and attempted to take him down.Needless to say that the Rifter did not last long. As my warp tunnel terminated on the scene I saw one of the Battle cruisers explode in a flash of white light. B13s' guess as to why the Hurricane dropped so quickly was that the pilot must've forgotten to activate his tank, not expecting the severity of B13s' retaliation. The second pilot did not run as expected but bravely continued to pound on B13s' armour.
As I engaged the second Battle cruiser the inevitable happened and a swarm of ECM drones dampened B13s' hold on the ship and the Battle cruiser warped toward a planet. I was just beyond Disruptor range and I cursed my own error locking the target too early thus preventing his retreat.
We decided to separate to the two star gates within the system to blockade the Battle cruiser. Scan probes were launched and within a few scans the enemy was located deep in a safe spot. I had a hunch that the pilot, if he was wise would jump between a couple of safe spots. First I warped to the scan probes 1st result while B13 continued to scan. When I arrived he had literally just left the grid and my ships overview caught a glimpse of his signature.
As B13 warped to a second scan result he caught the startled Hurricane Pilot and attempted a lock. Immediately our prey warped back to my location right on top my Disruptor range. The ensuing battle was not over as quickly and the Hurricane pilot fought valiantly but soon enough B13 arrived and aided in the Hurricanes demise. This time we were sure to destroy any ECM drones as they were deployed, eventually obliterating his ship with lethal salvos of overheat.
The rest of the night was quiet and uneventful. We saw no other ships on our scans save for the odd Frigate and eventually journeyed home to re-arm. Meeting up in the hangar we agreed that the mission was a success but was not as eventful as hoped. We've decided to try again soon, but to undertake our mission when the pickings were likely to be thicker.
The Lottery
System: Classified
Security: 0.5
B13 and I made a killing last night, literally. Some poor soul thought it would be a good idea to afk-auto-pilot his hauler through a 0.5 system whilst carrying almost a Billion in ISK worth of equipment. Needless to say that half the modules were destroyed, the other half appropriated. The modules included a faction stasis and a whole collection of rigs. He even had a pack of cigarettes on-board which survived the decompression of his precious hull.
The feeling B13 and I share is that the proceeds should be channelled into a new mission. B13 came up with the idea that we buy a couple of Command ships, fit them with death, rig them with gank and head out into the wildness to hunt. If they were lost we shouldn’t feel too bad as they were essentially free, only costing us a couple of cruisers to obtain.
At the time of writing we’re both preparing ourselves for the task at hand. The wormhole POS is ready to be deployed but has been delayed temporarily whilst we undertake this new mission. I have already prepared my clone, and we should return in time for the Inter Corporation Frigate tournament which will commence within the next 48 hours.
My weapon of choice? An Absolution. B13 will be taking a Sleipnir. Both will be equipped for maximum DPS to eliminate prey quickly. The fitting I will post, post the mission. We may even wander into w-space just to have a look but I would expect us to stick to low sec prowling for targets. As the ships we’re to pilot are essentially ‘throwaway’ we may even try passing a few known hostile regions as the targets will surely come to us. Whatever happens depends on the day, but I expect it to be eventful or I’ll kill someone.
Bio
And as a subject of Amarr I have no duty to allow myself to be defeated.
But it is better to die than to preserve this life by incurring disgrace.
The loss of life causes but a moment's grief, but disgrace brings grief every day of one's life.
And so I begin with the end in mind for I am immortal,
I am NOXx.
Related Soundtrack
Battle Royal
I-A and I-F are set to do battle, a Frigate Tournament where the prize is a shiny new Battle-cruiser built by the Corporation. I really don’t need yet another Harbinger. I am looking forward to it though because it’s to destruction, and I like destruction.
There are restrictions however, no faction equipment, faction ammunition or rigs. The organiser, B13 is quite flush with ISK and wanted to use faction modules, but that would not be fair on the more inexperienced members of the Corporation whom have yet to siphon billions from their prey. Being Minmatar, he isn’t used to playing fair.
I expect and believe I will win even though my skills are not as advanced as some of my fellow capsuleers. It’s how one uses those skills in practice that counts and Frigate combat is my forte. I enjoy the hands on approach to Frigates. My favourite ships to fly are the Malediction and the Retribution.
The battle is to take place within the next 72 hours in our territory, a secret location hidden within low sec. A gate camp has been organised to protect the contestants and there’ll be a couple of Heavy Assault Cruisers on hand to ‘referee’ proceedings. So I’ve been back into high security space again recently to acquire several possible fittings. I’ll let you know which ones were effective and which, if any failed.
Amarr Victor!
